I have been trying to bake gluten free for the first time. I want to continue baking vegan as well.My first efforts have been total disasters. I've never had this many consecutive failures. It reminds me of the time when I went from automatic to standard driving. Morale is low. Does anyone have any favorite vegan, gluten-free recipe/baking resources, e.g., cookbooks or websites? I am doing this for a family member who has to go gluten free. Thanks

Do you have Great Gluten-Free Vegan Eats or Great Gluten-Free Vegan Eats from Around the World by Allyson Kramer? I have both, and they're a pretty good jumping-off point. The books aren't fully baking ones, but they do have a decent number of baked items, plus other types of meals if you're interested in that, too. In fact, I just made the Soulhaus Cookies from the first book today (like Tollhouse, but vegan and gluten-free). They turned out very good. My son couldn't tell anything was different than my usual (Isa's) recipe for chocolate chip cookies. Good luck!

are you using your own gluten-free flour mix or one of the shelf such as bob's red mill all-purpose gluten-free flour mix? are i assume you are using xanthan gum too, that is an absolute must in gluten-free baking.

_________________"....but I finally found block tempeh a few weeks ago with the intent to give it my virginity." -Moon

No, I wasn't using xanthum gum because the recipe(s) didn't call for it. It might explain, though, while one recipe - cupcakes - overflowed out of the tin; another recipe for cookies was so loose and crumbly, it just didn't bind. Sorry to show my ignorance but is xanthum gum considered all-natural and okay for health?

I have not been using mixes. I kind of wanted to shy away from the ones that were based on tapioca starch and potato-based filler. I've been using recipes that call for rice flour, buckwheat flour, hazelnut flour and so on, and blending them per instructions. Thanks for the tips on the cookbooks.

I am certainly no expert in gluten-free baking but from my understanding, xanthan gum is a pretty crucial ingredient, it magically gives "structure" to the gluten-free baked good, much like gluten would.

bob's red mill (BRM) makes xanthan gum, and bob's red mill is an awesome company. you can google xanthan gum to learn more about it.

BFM all-purpose flour is just a mix of GF flours, you still need to add in xanthan gum, baking powder and/or soda, and all of your other recipe stuff. it's not like a cake or cookie mix in a box.

i'm just confused that you are using GF recipes that don't call for xanthan gum. that might could explain why your cookies were way loose and crumbly. not sure why your cupcakes would have overflowed out of the tin :(

_________________"....but I finally found block tempeh a few weeks ago with the intent to give it my virginity." -Moon

_________________No. No. fork life allatimes. - mumblesThat commercial didn't make me want to go out and buy Dove, but this thread did make me sniff my armpits. They smell like apricot. - designedtobekind

You don't need xanthan gum for gluten free baking. There are multiple ways to replace the function of gluten, just like there are various ways to replace eggs in vegan baking. Some recipes rely on xanthan gum, but many don't.

Many people have very good results just with combinations of flours like rice flour, buckwheat, starches etc. SNS's problems might be caused by unreliable recipes, oven temperature or measurements etc. (basically all the things that can go wrong for a non-gf recipe).

Xanthan gum is produced by bacteria. That's more than 'natural' enough for my taste, but opinions vary. It also causes digestive issues for some people, so it's not a panacea.

I can't offer a million dollars (I can hardly pay my own bills!) but I can certainly offer any advice or tips! Or even if you live close by... you can come over for cake?

Your online presence is enough :-) Thanks for hanging out with us! I'd love to know what your favorite gluten free baking websites/cookbooks are. Can you suggest some easy recipes beginners like us can try? Do you like to bake with xanthan gum or do you mostly rely on magical flour combinations?

I can't offer a million dollars (I can hardly pay my own bills!) but I can certainly offer any advice or tips! Or even if you live close by... you can come over for cake?

Your online presence is enough :-) Thanks for hanging out with us! I'd love to know what your favorite gluten free baking websites/cookbooks are. Can you suggest some easy recipes beginners like us can try? Do you like to bake with xanthan gum or do you mostly rely on magical flour combinations?

Believe it or not, I don't own any gluten-free baking cookbooks (other than, of course, my own). None of them fell in line to what I believed was a good recipe -- I am a strong believer in making things taste just like the real thing, while using whole grain flours and no mixes. I also think that there isn't a one-size-fits-all flour combo (which is the case in many GF cookbooks). I minimize starches, never use rice flour, and don't use legumes or nightshades.

All of my cookbooks have about 60 pages at the front written about this. I also wrote a feature article debunking everything for GF baking in the latest issue of Allergic Living magazine.

I do use xanthan gum in my cookbooks, but not always when I am baking now. The reason I do is because it works well and I was trying to be consistent from book one through three, so people weren't buying a load of new ingredients if they were buying the whole "series".

Websites, hmm, often, I just get inspired by photos! I do follow some GF blogs (some are vegan), but it is generally for inspiration, which stems from sites like Finding Vegan and Food Gawker and Tastespotting. I'll look through my reader and see which ones are GF/V.

For easy recipes, I have a huge whackaload on my site -- are you looking for baking, desserts, everyday stuff, or any sort of recipe at all? I can offer my favourites!

The "morale is low" made me chuckle, because I know how you feel! I feel like a lot of my GF cooking turns out to be a flop, but baking and pancakes seem to be the achilles heel. I have my best luck using a pre-made blend (currently a starchless one from the brand Premium Gold) with xanthan already in it, and baking things 5-10 min longer.

So I'm planning on making gf yorkshire pudding for Thanksgiving this weekend. The recipe I found calls for rice flour. Now I still have some brown rice flour left over but I bought some all purpose baking flour as well, because I am going to be making a pie crust. Now the pie crust calls for rice flour as well, but can I use the AP flour for the pie crust?

Also, I meant to ask all of this at the health food store today but, soon I hope to try making some breaded tofu buffalo wings. What would be the best type of GF flour to use for that? If anyone could help me out, I'd be grateful! Thanks :)